How To Do Well In Biology- How Can It Be Interesting?

When I was in school, Biology was probably always one of my favourite subjects. As clichéd as it may sound, I was always fascinated by the way organisms work, what makes humans and animals tick and what keeps us alive. It`s a concept that we can understand through science, but I do not believe the human mind can ever really comprehend.

Humans are a complex network of cells and the cell processes determine our status as a living being. However, how can a framework of molecules create something that is conscious, something that is capable of emotion and personality? All organisms have a basic instinct for survival and reproduction, but how is that created by what is essentially a series of molecular and chemical reactions? What is it that links it all together?

Without wanting to go too far down the philosophical route, this is the reason I was so interested in Biology and, being particularly interested in Human Biology, it was ultimately the reason I decided to go into medicine. Admittedly, Biology, like any science, has such a wide scope of subject matter that it is almost impossible to understand all of it, and it is highly unlikely a single person will even enjoy all of it. Additionally, as it does cover such a variety of topics, especially at secondary and sixth form level, it is undoubtedly difficult to learn. However, being lucky enough at sixth form to have some excellent teachers I was able to learn how to approach the subject in order to learn it for exams, and my teachers were responsible for igniting my interest in the subject.

In my opinion, one of the biggest errors in approaching anything in Biology (or indeed, any science) is studying one particular area of the subject in such detail that you lose a sense of the bigger picture and forget to link the information together. Putting the pieces of the jigsaw together aids your understanding and allows you to truly understand the purpose of what you are studying, and also makes it infinitely more interesting. Being too small-minded or not making yourself aware of the bigger picture is, I believe, the biggest error in the study of science at school (and often even at university).

However, Biology is a subject you can demonstrate easily by looking in your garden, in a field or even in a mirror. Science is studying the world around you, and it is easy to forget that, whilst you are studying that part of life, you are yourself part of life. Often teachers and students alike focus so highly on individual pieces of information crammed into the syllabus to get them through exams that they forget that there is constantly a live scientific demonstration of the course material going on at all times. Exam boards are also responsible. They give us modules, where the specifications of that module limit us to study in blocks. In one module, we may cover evolution. In another module we may study plants and xylem and phloem. At some point we studied immune cells and cell processes, and then what a pathogen is. But where do they all link together? That is the question that makes it interesting, and helps us understand it all.

Even if you don't understand all the details to the particular tiny part of the biological world you are studying, understanding its importance and relation to other things is key to being a good scientist (and, of course, getting a good grade). So what can we do about it? I know i`ts almost impossible to keep up with work at all times. It`s also very difficult to understand everything expected of us. Therefore it would be ridiculous of me to suggest that reading around the subject is the solution. Whilst reading around a subject can help to clarify course material, and can help to highlight those essential links between subject areas to help us see the bigger picture, reading around everything is far too much to ask students at A-level or GCSE level.

It sounds obvious, but I believe the first step is to use a good textbook in conjunction with our school notes, and to make good revision notes. This worked for me at A-level, as I found summarising information and collating subject areas into groups into one handwritten, condensed guide allowed me to process the information and was an active way of learning. I also found that reading a textbook sometimes explained things better, or in a different way to the way my teacher presented it or indeed the way it was presented in the syllabus.

Once you have made good revision notes, and you have tried to learn them as well as possible, it helps to make a mind map. I used to get absolutely giant pieces of paper, some coloured pens and try and condense an entire module onto one cloud, drawing lines to different pieces of information that linked together. This allows you to, almost literally, see the big picture and notice how those hundreds of little bits of information you are told link together. I used to make it almost like a game. How can I link the things I learnt about the heart to the things I learnt about bacteria? You`ll soon see how everything in biology is intrinsic, how it is the case that one little process is essential for life.One other thing I cannot emphasise the importance of enough is practice papers. Practice really does make perfect, and it is again just a good way of getting everything to stick in your memory.

Finally, why not put your knowledge to test in your daily activities? Next time you play a sport or go for a run, think about the processes that are happening in your body- what is making your heart beat, and your muscles move and ache? Next time you see a bumble bee on a flower, think about what it`s doing and how such a small creature is essential for life. Everyone has a different way of learning, but I genuinely believe that no matter how good you are at memorising information, it will benefit you to try and see the big picture. Whilst it`s important know the syllabus well and have it memorised, that information is useless unless you can put it into practice for the exams, or even in life. It will prepare you for the unexpected in your exams, and it just might make you more interested in your subject.